Friday, July 17, 2009

The quiescent Canadian Freelance Union is apparently rumbling to life. In a bulletin to members, interim president Michael OReilly says that the inaugural meeting of members will be held October 3, with a number of physical sites and electronic links for other places. A draft set of bylaws have been put together by members of the interim executive and interested CFU members and will soon be available via the CFU's online web forum for a full discussion and editing.

OReilly says that the new union has a 3-year commitment of funding and support from the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union.

He also announced that long-suffering charter members, some of whom signed up to show their interest as long as three years ago (the CFU was first announced in August 2005), will receive a discount on the first year of dues. Normal dues will be $125; charter members will pay $100 for the first year.

Among the member benefits detailed in the memo are:

A contract advice service to help members interpret and understand what they are signing.

A formal contract support to help members deal with disputes over payment, rights usage or other problems.

A "Red Flag" service to warn members about unscrupulous engagers.

A basic benefits plan (details to follow).

Access to full benefits packages at rates far lower than would normally be possible (leveraging linkages to the CEP)

A hiring hall which will link members to work, and work to members.

Use of the CFU bug (following our inaugural meeting).

The start of efforts to negotiate better freelance contracts from some of the country's largest publishers such as Quebecor, Transcontinental, Canwest, Rogers, etc.

A web forum(which at the time of writing had not posted the member bulletin